Oakland nonprofit seeks more computers to give to needy...

Kemish Rosales moves desktop computers at the Oakland Technology Exchange, which donates them to needy families.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle

2 of 3

Kemish Rosales wheels components through the Oakland Technology Exchange, which for 20 years has provided computers and digital literacy training.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle

3 of 3

Volunteer Barry Horne searches for a power supply cord at Oakland Technology Exchange West on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Oakland, Calif.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle

At the back of a West Oakland warehouse sit stacks of computer husks, hollowed out and waiting.

To the people at the Oakland Technology Exchange, they’re more than metal parts and wires. They’re someone’s future, someone’s job application, someone’s college admission letter. And they’re worried that soon, they may not have enough to go around.

“This isn’t a sexy solution —it’s hardware,” said Domingo Vasquez, the organization’s director of curriculum and training. “But the reason we exist is because I don’t care how many black girls code, you can’t code anything if you don’t have a computer.”

The Oakland Technology Exchange has for 20 years provided free refurbished computers and digital literacy training to low-income families, students and seniors throughout Oakland with machines and parts obtained through donations. Founded by Bruce Buckelew, an IBM engineer turned philanthropist, the nonprofit received a grant last year that allowed it to expand.

Now serving the whole East Bay, it has increased its presence in Alameda and Contra Costa counties by establishing about 35 computer labs in public housing and community centers, and organizing dozens of tech fairs where people can come to learn tech-literacy basics and leave with a computer of their own.

By the end of 2016, more than 2,500 families will have received a computer. Next year, the organization is on track to give away nearly 3,600.

For the first time in its 20-year history, executive director Seth Hubbert said, the organization is giving away more computers than it seems to be bringing in.

Volunteer Barry Horne tests a trackball for a computer at the exchange.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle

The Oakland Technology Exchange was one of the first organizations in the Bay Area to tackle the digital divide — helping low-income families and people of color, who have disproportionately lower rates of technological literacy and are more likely to lack computer or Internet access at home.

Using the free computer as an incentive, the exchange walks low-income families through the process of signing up for subsidized Internet access before allowing them to take home a free computer, worth about $100.

Bay Area tech companies are grappling with low numbers of black and Latino workers. A solution beckons: students in Oakland and other area schools who are being introduced to coding, programming and after-school programs designed to bolster their understanding of computing technology.

But when many students go home, Hubbert said, there’s not a computer in sight. And despite the tech world’s emphasis on data-driven decision making, there are few hard numbers on the depth of the digital gap in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

“We want to raise awareness in this community that this is a problem, rather than letting it sit in the dark,” Hubbert said. “None of these (coding bootcamps and other programs) can be truly successful if we’re ignoring the access piece. It’s so fundamental.”

More Americans than ever rely solely on smartphones for online access at home, studies show. But smartphones, sufficient for looking up facts for a homework assignment, aren’t made for essay writing, applying for jobs or software programming, which still typically require a monitor and keyboard.

Less than a third of black Americans have at-home Internet service, according to Pew. Among Latinos, 41 percent of those who speak English have at-home broadband service, according to Pew. But among recent immigrants and non-English speakers, that number drops.

Officials at Oakland Technology Exchange said that half or more of its clients come from immigrant homes where English is a second language. Many who wander into the warehouse are in the country illegally, hesitant to sign up for Internet access because they may be asked for a Social Security number.

“A lot of folks take the connectivity they have in their homes or at work for granted,” said Joel Peña, the director of sales and support at the tech exchange. “Here we see families coming in to get a computer — their first computer — because they want it for their kid who’s in school. And we try to tell them, this is for you as well.”

A $1.6 billion federal program known as Lifeline, established in 1985 to provide a monthly subsidy to help families underwrite phone bills, is scheduled to expand to cover broadband access starting Thursday. The program, which was last expanded in 2005 to include mobile phones, will require those eligible to choose between a phone subsidy and Internet subsidy.

But there are other low-cost options available through telecom companies for people who qualify based on income.

Vasquez, who has worked at the tech exchange for 16 years, estimates that he’s helped tens of thousands sign up for low-cost Internet and handed out nearly 40,000 computers.

The group finds families in need through schools and community centers.

The computers, largely desktop models, would cost around $100 if sold commercially. (Older-model Dell and HP computers can be found around that price on online liquidation sites.) Laptops, tablets and faster, more advanced computers cost more. A family can take the $100 computer home on the spot, pay the difference to upgrade to another device or volunteer hours at the shop helping strip and sort computer parts to earn their way to the computer of their choice.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a mom and her son stood in the entry way of the tech exchange as Peña searched for a black messenger bag to carry their new laptop.

Sandra Avendaño had never been to the center before. She lives in Hayward. She didn’t even know a program like it existed until last week.

“You have to pay so much for everything these days, it just adds up. Internet was pushed to the bottom of the list,” she said. “I figured, we could live without Internet. But with (Luis) getting older, it’s gotten harder.”

Luis, 12, has been learning to code in school, but didn’t have a computer at home. To do his homework, he would spend hours at the library. When his new silver laptop appeared, Luis smiled widely.

“We work for gratitude,” Vasquez said. “A lot of people don’t believe what we do. They think it sounds to good to be true, that it’s not possible. ... That’s my reward. I get to help kids who may not otherwise have had a chance really get ready to succeed.”

Donate to the Oakland Technology Exchange at the monthly open house from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 3, 1680 14th St., Oakland. Pickups are available for large-scale donations. For more information on how to help, visit www.otxwest.org/donate.

Marissa Lang covers the intersection of technology and culture for the San Francisco Chronicle, focusing on how the tech industry and technology itself influence and reshape the Bay Area, its people and communities. She covers Twitter, Facebook and the influence of social media, diversity in tech, and the rise of fake news. Marissa joined the Chronicle in 2015. Previously, she covered City Hall for the Sacramento Bee, criminal justice and same-sex marriage for the Salt Lake Tribune and breaking news for the Tampa Bay Times. Born and raised in New York City, Marissa feels the most comfortable in bustling metropolises and is interested in issues of diversity and social justice. Se habla español.